The first finals session of the 2016 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) had a little bit of everything Thursday night at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. One MIAC record fell, another meet record met its match, and the University of St. Thomas grabbed the lead in both team competitions, with an especially tight race on the women's side.
Gustavus' Hayley Booher delivered Thursday's top highlight, winning her second-straight title in the 200-yard individual medley with a new MIAC record of 2:05.84. The Tommie men also had a record-setting performance en route to a dominant day-one performance with a meet-record time of 3:19.98 to win the 400-yard medley relay.
The women's race for the MIAC title is extremely intriguing following one day, as St. Thomas holds a slim three-points lead - 226 to 223 - over six-time defending champion Gustavus. Just three points also separates the next two teams, with St. Olaf (120) and Carleton (117) in third and fourth. Saint Benedict (84) is in fifth and St. Catherine (52) holds a one-point edge over both Macalester (51) and Hamline (51). Concordia has 49 and Saint Mary's and Augsburg are tied or 10th with 26 points each.
UST is off to an impressive start in the men's competition, with 283.5 points and a 126-point lead as it seeks a second-straight title. St. Olaf (157.5), Carleton (150) and Gustavus (147) are all separated by less than 11 points in the battle for second, with Saint John's rounding out the top five with 122. Hamline has 70 points, Macalester is four back of the Pipers with 66 and Saint Mary's has 46 points after one day.
The first championship session certainly opened in style, with the Gustavus and St. Thomas women engaging in an entertaining duel. The Gusties touched the wall less than a half-second before the Tommies to win the 200-yard freestyle relay, 1:34.05 to 1:34.53, with both times meeting the NCAA 'B' cut and the 2015 selection time. Carleton's time of 1:36.43 was good for third.
The Carleton men showed off their sprinting prowess en route to an impressive win in the men's 200-free relay. The Knights met the 2015 selection time and the 'B' cut with their first-place time of 1:22.41. St. Thomas came in second at 1:23.80 and Gustavus finished third with a time of 1:25.27.
Youth was served in the women's 500-yard freestyle finals, as rookies swept the top three spots. St. Thomas' Katelyn Strauss won the race with a time of 5:01.24, and Tommie teammate Alex Howard was third at 5:06.33. Gustavus first-year Linnea Rizzo was the runner-up in the 500 with her time of 5:05.32.
The Tommie men made a strong statement in the men's 500-free, sweeping the top three spots, and five of the top seven places. Sophomore Warren Melton won the race with a 'B' cut time of 4:34.34, with teammates Chris Tri (4:39.72) and Brady Anderson (4:40.60) right behind in second and third, respectively.
The 200-yard individual medley delivered two of the night's top highlights by a pair of returning champs. Booher's MIAC conference and championships record time of 2:05.84 helped her defend her title, and it also met the NCAA 'B' cut. In the men's race, two-time MIAC Swimmer-of-the-Year Mike Lanz of St. Thomas made his first argument for a three-peat with a successful defense of his 200-IM title, thanks to a time of 1:52.55.
St. Thomas' Nicole Herrli also bested the previous MIAC record and the 'B' cut in the 200-IM with her runner-up time of 2:06.62. Carleton's Maria Wetzel was third with a time of 2:07.87. Tommie sophomore Bailey Biwer was the men's runner-up (1:53.98), and Saint John's Jose Alvarez was third (1:54.37).
The 50-yard freestyle also saw a pair of defending champs return to the top of the podium. St. Thomas' Emma Paulson met the 2015 selection cut for the second time Thursday by touching the wall in 22.86 to win her second-straight title. Carleton's Stephen Grinich also defended his title in the 50-free with a 'B' cut time of 20.59. Gustavus' Kathleen Reilly (23.37) also met the 2015 cut and Carleton's Caroline Mather (23.79) met the 50-free 'B' cut, and Carleton's Karl Schwarzkopf (20.89) and Saint John's Paul Knaak (20.90) were second and third, respectively, in the men's race.
The men led off the diving championships with the 1-meter board finals Thursday night. Reigning MIAC Diver-of-the-Year Andrew Grabowski barely edged defending champion Scott Hodgson of St. Olaf in an outstanding duel. Both divers met the NCAA Diving Zone selection score, with Grabowski scoring 430.35 to Hodgson's 429.85. Saint John's Justin Wollin was third with his score of 395.45.
The first night of championship action ended in style, with the St. Thomas men's meet record and both Tommie teams meeting the 2015 selections standard en route to sweeping the 400-yard medley relay titles, as the women also won with a time of 3:49.24. The men's race saw St. Olaf (2:34.80) edge Carleton (3:25.26) for second, and the Ole women were also second (3:53.21) with Gustavus (3:54.03) in third.
Following each of Thursday evening's races, a short awards ceremony was held to honor the top eight finishers. The top three finishers in each event received medals and automatically earn All-Conference honors. Thursday's All-Conference honorees are listed below.
The meet will continue with two more sessions apiece Friday and Saturday. The morning sessions will begin at 10:30 a.m. (doors at 9 p.m.) and will feature preliminary races, with the evening championship sessions starting at 6:30 p.m. (doors at 5 p.m.). Saturday's championship doors will open at 2:30 p.m. for preliminary heats of the 1,650-yard freestyle and diving.
Tickets are available at either a single-session rate, or all-session passes will also be available for fans who plan to attend the entire event. Single-session passes cost $10 for adults and $5 for students, and all-session passes are $50 for adults and $25 for students. Heat sheets are included in the cost of admission. Children 5 and under are admitted free, and MIAC passes will be honored for all six session. No other passes or discounts will be accepted.
As in years past, all six sessions will be broadcast live online thanks to Webcast America. Fans will also be able to watched archived video of each session following the event and purchase DVDs of the broadcasts via Webcast America's site. MIAC Media's Mike Gallagher will handle play-by-play duties for four of the six sessions. There will also be "live" results available online with results updated shortly after the conclusion of each event for fans following the action from afar.
The MIAC has an exclusive Web site for the 2016 MIAC Swimming & Diving Championships (http://www.miacathletics.com/playoffs/2015-16/S-Dchampionships2016). The site features the complete event schedule, psych sheet, ticket information and venue information. The site will be constantly updated throughout the event with heat sheets, links to follow the action live, results, recaps, photos and more.
Fans can also monitor MIAC men's swimming and diving on-the-go thanks to the the MIAC mobile app, which is a free download for both Apple and Android devices. Also, connect to the conference on its Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube pages and use the official event hashtag #MIACSD to interact throughout the championships.
--Story Courtesy of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
